


Whiny Little Brats

by kukijpg



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Single Parents, Fluff and Crack, Kid Fic, Kid! Haru/Rin/Gou (friendship), M/M, Sousuke is so done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-19 22:42:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3626979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kukijpg/pseuds/kukijpg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uncomfortable flights and whiny kids?<br/>Sousuke was too damn tired of this shit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Damn Strong Willed Brat

“Listen buddy, if I get you your crayons will you promise me not to whine while I go take a nap?”

“Mm-kay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise what?”

Sousuke sighed for the twentieth time in less than 6 hours.

Unbuckling his seat belt and stretching his sore limbs, the tall broad man opened their baggage cabin. After retrieving the drawing supplies out of the tiny dolphin shaped rucksack, he plopped back on his ‘too narrow for his build’ seat. Locked in the little space, it felt actually like super uncomfortable for the gigantic buffy man in his flight seat. Sousuke sighed and was extremely relieved when he could finally sit. His legs felt like dying. _“Well I guess it’s better than nothing.”_

Though, he was trying to snooze in a bit, his son was busy drawing anyway. After shaking the provided tiny pillow and wrapping himself in the blanket he thoughtlessly stared at his drawing offspring. Haruka, his 5-year-old son, was pretty skilled he had to admit. The most realistic drawings in crayon made him cringe a little though, but Haru insisted on crayon only.

Sousuke bought him stuff like acryl paint and charcoal but his snobby little brat of his rejected them all. The 5-year-old boy claimed that the oily crayon sticks would make his drawings more outstanding and prettier because of their grainy lines and bright colours. The droopy teal eyed man couldn’t really argue with that, Haru had a point. The grainy line art mixed with the realistic style looked quite unique. It was a total difference compared to the sketches he’d seen from other kids in Haru’s class.

Watching his young boy focusing on his drawings made him a bit calmer and a bit sleepy. The determined expression on his son’s face was absolutely adorable. Lost in frustration Haru’s lips would turn into a tiny pout and the furrow in his eyebrows when he was thinking of something. He didn’t smile that much like other kids did, but whenever Haru was drawing his eyes would sparkle like a sparkly sun-kissed ocean. He cherished those moments the most, seeing Haru content is his only wish for him. Haru may be a snobby brat, but he loved his son with all his heart. Honestly, it just would be impossible for Sousuke to hate kids. Behind the smug and cool attitude, his heart was actually softer than bouncy pudding. He wouldn’t want to trade Haru for anything else. There are moments when Sousuke feels exhausted when he’s dealing with Haru, but the feel of fatherhood makes him forget it.

Haruka’s movements were almost hypnotizing. His fingers swiftly moved across the paper he was holding in place with his other hand. The crayons smudged his hand a little but it seemed like Haru didn’t really mind. Haru would probably call it a ‘colourful hand palette of his favourite colours’, or what Sousuke would call it ‘a messy rainbow, dear God Haru I always need to clean your mess’. The elder would always find himself scolding the kid after he was done with drawing. In his offense, Haru didn’t really make a mess of his surroundings but of himself. He would always end up having some crayon stains on his hands, face and the most irritating thing: his clothes. Crayon stains are a pain in the ass, especially when you have a stubborn whiny little kid like Haru. The stains on his shirts could be considered as art Haru once argued with him.

He prayed so hard that Haru wouldn’t end up looking like a Jackson Pollock painting at the end of the flight. It only has been an hour after the take-off and Haru already whined for his art supplies. As long his kid would keep himself busy he didn’t mind giving Haru his crayon tools. At first, he didn’t really think of the consequences because of his tiredness. Now was sleeping his number one priority, taking care of crayon stained clothes would come after that. And hopefully, he would be sleeping the whole flight if he was lucky. Stretching his neck a bit to find a comfortable position, he leaned against the wall with his face towards the sideways and Haru. The last thing he ends up seeing was a tall brunet chasing two tiny red flashes in the sideways before his eyelids gave up.

* * *

 Sousuke was up all night packing for the trip to Australia and didn’t sleep that much. When he finally fell asleep, it was almost 5 A.M. The airplane was leaving at 9 A.M., so that meant Sousuke could probably sleep for like 2 hours just in case with the business he would have to deal with at the airport.

After waking up from his so-called ‘powernap’ he went to wake up Haru. Under the messy bundle of blankets, he could see the black strands of Haru’s hair popping out. Two of the three pillows lay on the floor and the remaining one was close to falling off. It seemed like he had a pretty wild night. Sousuke picked the pillows up and rearranged them before pulling the blankets off Haru.

“Rise and shine buddy, we gotta be there in nine” he loudly announced to his sleepy disoriented son and smirked. Haru just grunted at him and turned over.

“Mmh no, go away. I wanna sleep” was the soft albeit irritated response. Not satisfied with the given answer, he tried to irritate the little snothead a bit more.

Few seconds after poking his son in his cheek he felt a stinging pain in his hand. _“That fucking little shit just bit me.”_ Sousuke bitterly thought _“Oh he’s gotta get it now”._

“ _Haruka_ , get up or I will avenge you. Prepare yourself.” _Three. Two. One_. And tickled his dear son till the poor kid started to squirm.

Like any other kid, being waked up at 7 AM Haru was pissed off. How dare his dad wake him up so early tickling him under his bare feet. Without opening his eyes, he blindly threw a pillow directing at his father’s head. Throwing the blankets over his head he continued to doze off.  Sousuke felt another pain creeping up. “Oh no, not this again.” He sighed as he felt another headache coming up. He already tried so hard waking that stubborn brat up and he still failed.

So he did the only thing he could think of in order to wake up the brat.

“Dad, let me sleep.” Haru whined and rubbed his tiny fists against his eyelids. Sousuke pulled the blankets off his poor son and cradled him in his muscled right arm. While his right arm was occupied with a tiny sleepy brat, he picked some clothes for Haru to wear from the closet.

Sousuke stripped his son and placed him the bathtub. “Haru, wake up, it’s bath time.” the teal eyed man teased him. Haru’s eyes snapped open and his sleepiness disappeared. “What are you waiting for dad, turn on the faucet.” he wailed “Come on old man, quicker I need to feel the water”.  Haru loved to dive his tiny hands into the water and watch the water flowing from his fingers. Sousuke was always fascinated to see his little offspring looking so content with such a simple thing. Fuck toys like Lego bricks and electronic robot cars. It saves a lot of time too, not worrying about Christmas presents or birthday presents. His kid would already be blissfully happy with a water gun. Screw that actually. Haru would already be content with a bath session, with glittery bath bombs of course.

Water was Haru’s favourite thing in the world he literally wouldn’t want to live without it. The kid’s obsession with water probably started from when he was a tiny toddler. Sousuke influenced the kid with water while extensively bathing or taking him to the pool during weekends. He basically ended up ruining his own chance for him to have a normal son. Having a normal son wouldn’t be fun to have Sousuke often reminds himself.

Getting Haruka out of the bath was another story. That little brat would sit in the tub for hours, even if the water was turning cold. Sousuke always had to persuade the kid with stuff like ‘we’re going to the pool in just 5 minutes buddy’ or ‘if you get out of the tub I will buy you that waterfall magazine thingy you really like’. Haru was a bit hard to crack sometimes, especially when he was focused on the water. But who could blame him really? Sousuke loved to bath too. It helped him relax, but just not that extensively as his son.

Finally after dragging Haru out of the bathtub, after having to promise to take Haru to see a real waterfall. Sousuke took a brisk shower, dressed in some casual clothes and they were ready to depart. Of course was Sousuke being the only one having to drag the suitcases in the car, Haru’s attention being stolen by a tiny cat and chasing it down the street.

“Haru, stop petting the cat’s tail, you will end up getting scratched. Get in the car now.” Sousuke yelled at him from a distance. But the tiny spot at the end of the street just seemed tinier now.

 _“That tiny fuck just ran away I swear to whatever holy person that’s in the sky.”_ Turning his keys and pressing the gas pedal he chased his animal-loving brat.

The car trip was as usual. Sousuke would turn on the radio and the first hum along to the song that was currently playing. Pop would make him a bit jumpy but rap touched his soul. Yeah true, modern rap about swag and drugs aren’t that touching but 80’s rap, that shit was his jam. His inner swag king would argue with that though.

When the song that was currently playing would wake up his inner King-ye West, he would sing or rap along passionately making Haru more irritated than he already was. Haru would sit next to him, roll his eyes at him and stare out of the window. Sousuke couldn’t really always tell what was happening in Haru’s mind, but he didn’t want to force it out of him. Most of the time Haru was quiet and relaxed but whenever he was not content with his surroundings he would turn into a snotty little brat. So basically every time Sousuke had to drag Haru out of the water or basically every time Sousuke was involved.

At the airport it all went less than fine. The luggage was checked in and the security checks were all almost okay. It would have been perfect if Haru didn’t start to argue with the security guard for misgendering him.

“I’m not a girl” he glared at the man and harshly pulled at Sousuke’s sleeve. “Dad, this happens all the time. It’s your fault for giving me a girl’s name.” He whined.

“Don’t be so rude to your elders, buddy“. Sousuke whispered hastily to his son. “Go apologize to the nice man.” Haru shook his head furiously and pouted his tiny lips. “Don’t wanna.” The 5-year-old mumbled softly. Sousuke just sighed.

“I apologize for my son’s behaviour, he’s a little stubborn sometimes.” Sousuke apologized to the security guard. _‘He’s always stubborn, to be honest’._ The man behind the security counter just grinned at them and waved them off.

“Have a good trip, gentle _men_.”

The corners of Haru’s mouth lifted a little up and waved back.

* * *

 “Dad, I’m hungry, buy me food. I want mackerel.”

“But buddy, we’re at an airport wherein god sake are we gonna find a food court that sells mackerel.”

“I don’t care, I want it.”

“You better take care of me when I get old and wrinkly.”

“You already are.” Murmured the tiny tease softly but Sousuke could hear him.

“ _Excuse me_?”

“Nothing, of course, I will Dad. Just feed me.”

And their ‘search for mackerel at an airport’ adventure began. Haru being the energetic hungry little guy he ended up dragging his tired old man all over the airport searching for a seafood restaurant. When they finally found one, it was almost time for the gate to be closed.

After paying for Haru’s breakfast, Sousuke and Haru ran all the way across the airport to their assigned gate. As if carrying a laptop bag and a heavy rucksack filled with books wasn’t exhausting enough already, he ended up carrying Haru’s dolphin-shaped rucksack too.

Puffing and feeling like he was dying Sousuke could see the board with the assigned gate number. They were one of the last arriving at the gate, arriving 3 minutes before closing. The flight attendees didn’t really mind and checked their names on the passengers' list.

In the gate, they couldn’t find chairs for them to sit on, so they leaned against the enormous window walls while waiting for permission to get in the plane.

“Yo Dad, look at the big thing outside.”

“That’s an airplane bud, it will take us into the sky.” He pointed at the airplane wings and motors. “With that, we’re going to fly.”

“But Dad, I want to _swim_.”

Sousuke was too goddamn exhausted for this shit.

* * *

 When he was woken up he didn’t expect to see the two red flashes crowed around his son and the tall brunet crouched on the floor with his arms leaning on Haru’s handrail. His buddy didn’t really seem to mind the attention he was given from the two red-haired kids and the brunet haired elder. He blinked again and squeezed his arm under his blanket to check if he was dreaming this. _Haru was finally making friends? And even with the elder kid?_ The young man couldn’t have been older than 20. The boyish air the young man had made it hard for the tired man to guess his age.

“Uhm excuse me, sir.” Sousuke carefully started. “But has my son done anything wrong or something?”

“O-oh no sir, we should have to apologize actually. My kids were running around and my son Rin accidentally bumped into your son’s seat and claimed to have found a new playmate.” the brunet rattled off. “When I finally found him, his little sister and he were already gathered around your son and they seem to quite hit it off. I saw you sleeping but I wasn’t really sure to wake you up so I ended up sitting next to him so I could keep an eye on them, so yeah...” The brunet trailed of his hands stopping with moving, his forest green eyes resting gently on Sousuke’s sleepy ones. Everything about the brunet screamed gentleness: His voice, his eyes and even his elegant yet awkward body language.

“ _Woah his eyes are super freaking green, like Shrek-green. Oh no fuck, they are like all different shades of green like a jungle lizard. Don’t fuck this up, man.”_ He wasn’t really that awake yet.

“Wait what, no, of course, please don’t apologize” Sousuke replied quickly before his mind would trail off to different things like the man’s dimples or his messy light brown hair. Keeping his cool is going to be hard around this man, that Sousuke is sure.

“I’m actually really grateful for your kid’s willingness to play with Haru. He isn’t really that great with making friends or with people.” Sousuke grinned back and reached his hand out behind Haru’s back. After a few short moments of eye contact, the green-eyed man took the offer and shook his hand. “ _Dude’s got a cold hand but a strong grip.”_  The fabric of the red plaited shirt was tight around the man’s shoulders but kind of loose around the hips. “Swimmers body, check. Angelic as fuck, check.”

“Makoto Tachibana, those are my kids Rin and Gou.” Makoto introduced while pointing at the red-haired snots, not letting his hand go. “Gou is the girl and Rin is the boy”.

“Sousuke Yamazaki, just Sousuke is fine though.” Sousuke awkwardly added. “And I suppose you already know my son is called Haruka or Haru for short.”

“Then you can call me Makoto.” The angelic gentle smile appeared on that face once again.

Sousuke felt already comfortable. Looking at their locked hands and he questionably grinned at his new acquaintance.

“Oh-oops I’m so sorry, your hands were so warm they felt so good against my ice cube fingers. I didn’t really think about it.” Makoto apologized again and quickly removed his hands. The slight redness on the other man’s cheek and the jumpy attitude of the nervous man-made Sousuke speechless. Sousuke swore he had never seen someone looking so angelic, his whiny brat not included of course.

“Don’t worry about it, man. My hands are warm because I kept them under the blankets. Oh shi-, no not that way. I know what you mean. Airplanes aren’t always that cozy warm” Sousuke shook it off and smirked. _“It felt really good though.”_ As he recalled having the cool calloused hand in his slightly bigger one.

“So, how old is Haru? They all look the same age. Rin and Gou are twins by the way. They are both five.” Makoto continued the conversation but not before Rin and Gou interrupted him.

“I’m the older twin.” the boy corrected and carried on playing with Haru and Gou.

“And it’s pronounced Kou! And shut up Rin, you’re only like ten minutes older than me.”

“Haru is five too, what a funny coincidence, isn’t it?”

Sousuke could see Makoto rubbing his hands together to keep warm so he offered him the pillow behind his back he kept warm with his body temperature. “Thank you so much, I’ve been crouching here for like a half hour now.”

“Oh man seriously, I’m so sorry for keeping you here. If I were awake you didn’t have to wait for me to wake up.” It was Sousuke’s turn to apologize now. He could feel his ears burning up. _“This is so embarrassing, what if he saw me drooling while I was sleeping? Stop being so awkward, jeez Sousuke man, turn your swag on.”_

“Please don’t apologize, man, we should really stop apologizing to each other.” He heard the green-eyed man mumbling as he hugged the tiny plane pillow tighter. Sousuke just smiled at him “Great idea, let’s just start over.” Sousuke climbed out of his seat, his seat immediately being taken over by Rin and Gou who just fitted surprisingly well in the narrow seat. Rubbing his sore neck a little, Sousuke wiggled between Haru’s seat towards the sideway where Makoto stepped back to give him room. The height difference between them wasn’t that much. Sousuke being approximately a few inches taller, his eyes could just look over Makoto’s hair.

“So I guess I don’t have anywhere to sit anymore.” Makoto just laughed at him and patted his shoulder. “Sure you do, look at the empty seats there.” As he pointed towards the empty seats a couple of rows in front of Sousuke’s and Haru’s. “You could take your nap there or we just could talk a bit if you want.”

“What about the children though?” Sure sleeping sounded nice, having so alone time with Makoto even nicer. But the children had to be watched.

“Oh don’t worry about them if we both fall asleep we will just have to trust them to the flight attendees.” Makoto reassured him. “And to be, frankly speaking, the children look pretty tired too, they will probably sleep in no time. You have no idea how hard was to wake them this morning.” No fucking way, Sousuke’s mouth fell slightly open and he stared at the slightly shorter man with his eyes almost falling out of the sockets.


	2. Super Parents - Monster Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After chitchatting with Makoto for a short ten minutes he has learned that Makoto is a fire-fighter, almost hitting the 27th year of his existence and the most interesting fact of all: divorced for almost two years. Oh and that he is a massively doting father like Sousuke himself. Perhaps, even more doting than he is.

Apparently blurting out ‘Ahem, ah Mrs. Tachibana, nice to meet you. I’m happy our kids are really hitting it off. I’m Haru’s father Sousuke Yamazaki’ to a random stranger next to the empty seat had an immediate effect on the one year younger man. The young woman just cocked her head and looked at Sousuke as if he was talking about an alien invasion. Makoto gently pushed Sousuke to the side, stealing the woman’s attention away from Sousuke. The red flush on his ears was not hard to miss, the messy bed hair made him even look more flustered. “We’re so sorry miss, please don’t mind us.” Makoto genuinely apologized, nudging at Sousuke’s arm with his elbow. Nudged? More like a great stab in his side. His muscles couldn’t react before the elbow touched him.

‘You don’t know her?’ Sousuke mouthed to him, still quite embarrassed for his actions.

Furiously shaking his head, Makoto pointed to the two empty seats in front of them and signaled Sousuke to sit there. After apologizing to the woman once again, they retreated to the empty seats, both cracking up from the high and embarrassment. Sousuke swore he could see Makoto’s eyes tearing up.

“O-oh man, that was so freaking close.” Makoto said albeit with difficulty after they both stopped giggling like two 5-year-olds. Which they totally are, raising 5-year-olds could bring out the childish side of you. “Th-that was just a random stranger whom I had to sit next to. These are Rin’s and Gou’s seats. And you immediately talked about our kids. Sousuke, you must really love Haru huh.” Makoto managed to say normally although having to inhale sometimes during sentences. After removing the excess water from his eyes with a cartoon printed handkerchief, they both sighed deeply.

Oxygen filled their lungs, calming them. “ _What a way to crack the ice, you go man. You’re doing great Sous, keep on going.”_ Sousuke had to stop himself from the urge to bump his fist into the air. Or knocking his self out wanting to punch himself into his face, he preferred that.

“Yes I do, unless he’s being a little shit.” Sousuke sighed as he smiled fondly towards the floor. The upcoming silence between them comforting, as they regained their composure.

“So… no wife then, I assume?” he carefully started, raising his left brow. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want, of course, I don’t want to pu-“

“Nope, I got divorced at 25, so like two years ago. I got the kids, she got her happiness.” The quick nonchalant response surprised Sousuke. “The kids are my source of happiness though, so yeah. I’m not bothered by it at all actually, don’t worry.” They exchanged some glances before Makoto asked him the same question.

“One day I woke up with signed divorce papers on the nightstand between our separate beds, empty closets and newly born Haruka crying in his crib.” He was still bitter thinking about his ex-wife’. “I even set up my team of subordinates to track her down, and apparently she fled the country with some other guy.” Sousuke didn’t realize he was balding his fists till he felt something cold around them. One of Makoto’s cold hands squeezed his firm and while the other punched him in his shoulder. Sousuke recognized the understanding look on Makoto’s face as if it was saying ‘I feel your pain. But dude, man the heck up and carry on’.

“Welcome to the single father squad, Sergeant. We’ve gotta protect the kids against all the evil monsters that are hiding under their beds with our super parental powers.” Makoto grabbed Sousuke’s fist again and bumped it into his fist. “To the kids, we are like superheroes who can conquer _everything_. In the day I’m fighting fire with a high-pressure hose, but at night I’m chasing monsters with a spray bottle.”

Sousuke was in awe, Makoto’s passion for fatherhood was truly aspiring. _“This man can’t be real, please punch me again so I can be sure I’m not dreaming this. I don’t care that all of your punches were a little painful, just hit me again.”_

“Hey I’m gonna check on the kids for a sec, do you mind waiting?” The passionate and monster-hunting brunet asked him after a while.

“Sure thing man, don’t worry about me. The kids are our priority, remember? _Commander Tachibana_.” Saluting the brunet and smirking devilishly as he did so. Sousuke almost physically cringed at himself for that shitty attempt to flirt. Did Makoto even realize that he was flirting, although quite terribly, with him?

* * *

 One thing Sousuke didn’t expect was waking up with a heavy weight on his left shoulder. Ahead with messy light brown hair was resting in the crook of his neck while his own head was leaning on it. _“Holy shi- Makoto. When did this happen? And bloody how?”_ He didn't have the heart to wake the younger man up. He never had, not even with Haru. _This morning being the exception because of the early flight they had to catch._ Sleeping dragons shouldn’t be waked he reminded himself.

Makoto’s face seemed to be at ease. His mouth was slightly open, breathing in and out slowly.  Some drool was running down his chin. Makoto’s hair was tickling his neck every time as his body moved up and down due the turbulence. After burning the precious sight of messy haired Makoto sleeping into his memory, he lightly nudged at the younger man’s arm.

“Dad wake up, we’re being attacked by monsters.” Sousuke failed to imitate a kid’s voice, his vocal cords not being able to go higher. _“Damn puberty.”_ He gritted his teeth.

“Lemme slee- WAIT WHA-? RIN! GOU! HAND ME THE MONSTER SPRAY.” The young man immediately woke up, ready for a ‘monster apocalypse’. One hand balled into a fist. The other hand open, waiting for the ‘monster spray’. His bloodshot eyes as big as ping pong balls focussing on the ‘monsters’. All of his arm muscles were tensed up, the fabric of the T-shirt stretching up till they looked like they were ready to fall apart.

“Where are the monsters? Stand back kiddo, I will fight them all…Oh my god SOUSUKE!”

“Just kidding, there are no monsters here.” Sousuke laughed. “We both fell asleep it seems. I don’t even remember you coming back from checking the kids?”

“I was _so_ ready to attack the monsters, you know. I’ve had _years_ of training.” Makoto defended himself but end up laughing too. “Ah yes, you were already sleeping when I came back, just like the kids.” Makoto handed him his phone, showing him a picture of the three brats snuggled together wrapped in a two tiny blanket. Gou sitting in the middle with a small smile painted on her face, obviously blessed. Rin’s face was messed up with pink and blue crayon stains it seemed, while _Haru_ was holding a blue crayon stick in the same shade in his tiny hand. How suspicious and predictable.

“They were so freaking adorable, I just couldn’t resist taking a picture.” Makoto rubbed the back of his head, messing his hair up further.

“Could you perhaps send that picture to me?” Sousuke bluntly asked. _“That was like the smoothest way of asking someone for their number, keep on going man and don’t lose your head in the game.”_ He hasn’t flirted with anyone in years, oh yeah he was really proud of himself. For fucking up that is.

“Sure! I can’t send it now of course because we’re still in an airplane dummy. But you can add your number to my contact list now if you want because you know you’ve been holding my phone for a while now.” That heart-stopping smile reappeared on the young brunet’s face, the teeth in all the glory shining like crystals even in the dim light. It was literally blinding him. Sousuke hasn’t seen a heart-warming smile like this one in ages. Not counting Haru’s ‘almost’ smiles.

Dumbstruck with the giving answer and the beautiful smile, Sousuke almost forgot how to use the smartphone that was still in his hands. Accidentally locking the screen by pressing on the wrong button, he ended up fumbling with the small device like a nitwit making Makoto laugh. Unlocking the phone successfully after Makoto telling him the password, he was surprised to see that Makoto already set the picture on his home screen. _“This guy is like a cinnamon roll, too good for this world. Too pure.”_

 _“Wait oh crap, oh shit what was my number again.”_ He mentally cursed himself. _“Never mind, I think this it. Or not… well, fuck it.”_ Sousuke took his own smartphone out of his pocket to look his number up. The stress was making him feel distressed. His hands were shaking. Makoto just nodded it off with that cursed smile of his.

“Do you need help, or wait- just gimme your phone I will do it.”

After Makoto saved his contact details into the two smartphones Sousuke felt like he could breathe normally again. This flight was an emotional rollercoaster, messing with his feelings and actions. According to the flight information on the seat screens four hours have passed since take-off. Six hours to go and he has no idea what will happen. He instantly felt the 7th headache of the day coming up.

* * *

 Excusing himself to the bathroom, he walked around a bit because the toilets were occupied. So he decided it was his turn to check on the kids. The display in front of his was more endearing than the picture itself. He planted a goodnight kiss on Haru’s forehead, as he tucked the blanket a bit tighter on his side.  Sousuke patted Rin and Gou’s maroon hair fondly. His endearing thoughts interrupted by Haru’s sudden loud snores. _“Typical you, Haru. You little dipshit. What would I be without you?”_

Sousuke rolled his eyes and opened the baggage cabin for his Haru’s and his own rucksack. While he was opening Haru’s rucksack to fetch him his favourite stuffed animal, a light blue dolphin. The crayon stains on the fur making him hard to guess the colour. Sousuke frowned as he tried to recall the original colour. _“Not important now, gotta clean up the mess.”_ Speaking of the mess, there was no mess.

He was amazed to see that the crayon box and the sketchbook were back in their place back in Haruka’s dolphin-shaped rucksack. Knowing that Haru wouldn’t have cleaned up the mess he made, he had to thank Makoto for it later. The trays were folded back to the seats, the kids were wrapped in a gigantic adorable burrito and even the crayon sticks in the packing were arranged from dark colours to light colours. _“Bless this man.”_

He pulled his spare shirt out of his rucksack and his toiletries before heading to the now vacant toilet room. Setting all of his belongings on the sink table and unbuttoning his wrinkled shirt. He changed into a simple black fitting T-shirt. Flexing his muscles and loosening them up as he stretched his tensed limbs. As he did his little warming up, he admired himself in the mirror. Or he tried to. There was nothing wrong with his body, honestly speaking. Daily training to stay fit for his work as an agent had really paid off. He wouldn’t be bragging if he said that his guns could probably do someone more pain than an actual gun. Sousuke had tested that theory, he was right.

But his face, he hardly could recognize himself. The dark purple circles under his eyes made him look like Kungfu Panda or so his buddy would call him. The last time he looked like this it was when he came home after a mission and Haruka was watching some kid’s cartoon the nanny put on early in the morning. The moment he went to greet his son with a bear as a present, Haruka attacked him with hugs and believing that Sousuke was the panda from that show. _“PO! Po!”_ At that time his 3-year-old son was really disappointed when Sousuke explained to him that cartoons aren’t real. Now, Sousuke regretted telling him that. Hugs were really endearing whenever Haruka initiated them. Now, the kid would only initiate hugs if he was scared of the dark in the middle of the night. How often his sleep would be interrupted by a screaming kid who ran into his bedroom climbing into the bed and hog to him like a koala.

And heck, his hair. Don’t even start with his hair. His undercut was fine, as usual. It didn’t need a fix. On the contrary at the top of his head, black tuffs were directed to every direction and not in a sexy way, like of a model. _“Like Makoto’s.”_ But more like a ‘crazy scientist with a failed lab experiment’ kind of way. Combing through his tornado-like hair with his fingers with a sprinkle of water, Sousuke swiped his hair into every hairstyle he could think of possible. After the 50 th attempt he gave up. It looked a bit better now he guessed. Some strands were swiped to the back, his fringe to one side. It could pass, he would have preferred it a more decent, but knowing it would probably mess itself up in no time he couldn’t care less.

And lastly his mouth definitely needed to be refreshed. The smell that was coming out of his mouth was disgusting he realized when he breathed into his hand to check. Drool and fish, damn it was almost making him want to vomit. The rushed mackerel breakfast he had with Haruka in the gate, really did a number on his breath. Grabbing his toothbrush and the tiny tube of toothpaste he carefully brushed his teeth. Three minutes, as all the dentists he ever went to told him to. As a single father he had to be a good example for his son. Responsibility was at the top of the list in order to be a good father figure he once read.

The flight attendees would probably deliver the meals in a moment though, so he reminded himself to take Haruka to the restroom after to brush his teeth. Sousuke still had to brush that brat’s teeth. Haruka was great at holding crayons and stuff. His hand motoric was perfect, but brushing teeth. Every time Haru attempted to brush his teeth on his own, would turn into a catastrophe. Toothpaste would always end up on his shirt or on the tip of his nose. One time even in his hair, behind his ear. How the bloody hell did he got toothpaste behind his ear. Sousuke sometimes wondered if Haru was playing him or not.

Glancing for the last time at his appearance, he left the restroom. Sousuke almost bumped into two flight attendees who were indeed preparing the carts with the provided meals. What a waste of the toothpaste.

* * *

 “How was the ladies’ room? You’re looking quite fresh and fruity.” Makoto teased him when Sousuke returned to ‘his’ seat. Makoto was still looking a tad tired himself. Apparently, when he was away, Makoto was reading a book but put it away to talk to Sousuke. The black rimmed reading glasses fitted him, the dorky frame making him look more mature and dad-like.

“Yeah it was fine you know, the usual, like powdering my face and stuff.” Sousuke grinned back, the teasing sarcasm rolled off his tongue like a natural. “You wanna help me with my facial later?” He didn’t realize how wrong it sounded after saying it. The poor man has never wanted to hit himself more than in his life until now. _“I’m definitely not in my zone.”_

“Sure-”

 _“SURE? What kind of an answer is that!”_ Sousuke blinked a few times, looking helplessly at Makoto. He was really confused.

“I always have to make fruit masks for Gou because she wants to make herself look pretty like a princess and demanded those television commercial thingies.” Makoto explained, clearly not noticing the innuendo. “But I don’t want her to use those chemical things because she still is so young, so I decided to learn to make masks so she wouldn’t whine again. On the plus side, she loves to eat her fruits now.”

“Oh... She’s already a really pretty princess though.” Sousuke tried to conceal his embarrassment. Smoothly for once, finally. He had to celebrate this later he decided.

“Yes she is. She’s gonna steal the hearts of thousands of men when she grows up. Please never grow up I always beg her. Kids are so precious, don’t you agree?” Makoto said as he sighed, looking into Sousuke’s eyes fondly.

Before he could answer Makoto, the flight attendee ruined their beautiful moment by asking for their preference. Sousuke ended up having the stir-fried rice while Makoto chooses the noodles. It didn't taste bad he had to admit. But after seeing the noodles, he regretted not choosing them. Makoto caught him staring longingly at his plate, and he offered to share his in exchange for some stir-fried rice. In the end, they just got lazy to shove the food on to their own plate so they just eat from each other’s plates.

They enjoyed their meal until a familiar red flash came to whine about their kid’s meal. Ice-cream was all over his face as he nudged into Makoto’s shirt, dirtying it. Makoto didn’t seem to mind it. He was clearly more concerned about his son.

“HARU. He..he-“ Rin was sobbing, his tears streaming down his red tinted cheeks.

“Oh honey, what did he do?” Makoto hugged his son tighter as he glanced to Sousuke. Sousuke just sighed.

“He..he didn’t want to share his dinosaur nuggets with me but with Gou!” Rin whined. Sousuke inhaled his breath. “So I ate his dessert, but I didn't like it. My tummy hurts, Dad!” He pointed to his belly dramatically. His expression at least ten times more dramatic. Sousuke immediately pulled the box of aspirins out of his pocket. There were only a few pills left. He already had eaten a few during this day because of his headaches.

The box of pills is going to be empty at the end of the flight, that’s for sure.

 


	3. Troublesome Turbulence & Troublesome Little Dipshits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Less than an hour before the landing, shit breaks out once again.

Chasing three brats in an aeroplane is impossible. Turbulence and the narrow hallways made it even harder. Fellow travellers pitied the poor parents. Kids are a true nuisance. Precious adorable nuisances though.

“Who the fuck even thought it was a good idea to play games together?” Sousuke scolded to himself. “Oh yeah it was me, stupid shithead.” He honestly thought it was a great idea. This would be Haru’s first time in an aeroplane and playing aeroplane themed games seemed to be appropriate. But playing tag didn’t include his plans at all.

Makoto was smiling from the other side of the cabin. It brightened the mood. He recharged on that radiant smile, like the monsters in Monsters & CO.

* * *

After gathering the kids into their laps and explaining the general rules they started their happy hour. The first game was harmless. It was just a simple quiz about flying objects and animals. Rin won that game so he had the right to pick the next game. Curse that damn adorable little poptart.

Rin decided to play the game called ‘copy-cat’. He started to make peculiar noises with grand gestures, which nobody knew what they were supposed to be. Except for Makoto, being the fanatic game player he was. It still was a mystery to Sousuke how the fuck Makoto guessed it was a helicopter. What was the clue? The muffled snoring noises or Rin’s flapping stretched arms that made him look like a crazed bird on heat? Sousuke couldn’t really tell, so he assumed that Makoto and Rin shared one soul. There was no other way. _He was a goddamn agent but he himself couldn’t even think of other options._

The dumbstruck parent stared at the smudge of crayon on Haru’s shirt, lost in his thoughts. He inspected the black stain at the hem of his left sleeve. The stain had the shape of a fish. That seemed way too suspicious for it to be just a ‘stain’. Sousuke swore to himself he wouldn’t lose his temper for the rest of the flight. He mentally counted to twenty something till he felt something nudging at his bare forearm. The cold finger poked one of his many veins, it tickled. The cold hands turned his skin into a burning puddle of magma.

“Sousuke, are you okay? It’s your turn, dude.” _Dude-ified. Dude-zoned. Just a dude._

“Wai-What, yeah okay lemme think of something real quick yeah.”

Sousuke blanked out. He knew he had to imitate a flying object or an animal but his brain felt like dying. The several headaches and his lack of sleep definitely had impact on his concentration spam. Out of panic, he started to make ‘engine noises’. At first the noises sounded okay, but after a few seconds he sounded like a dying pig. Any technician would probably have murdered him for dishonouring machines, but it was the thought that counted. Not that they could have done it better anyway.

Sousuke put his hands in front of as if he was holding a handle or something similar. His inner child awaked, he had no control of his own body now. The imaginary handle seemed real for just a second. He was going bananas. Literally, he had the image of a flying banana-vehicle in his head. The medicine he took must have had any weird side-effects. The aspirins might have drugged him.

“Is it Iron Man?” Makoto’s little man asked.

“NO it’s a definitely an aeroplane, am I right?” Makoto was really confident about his answer. Most of the answers he had given were correct. Sousuke would have crowned him king of games. He winked at Sousuke. He was about to give him right.

“A JET FIGHTER!” Gou yelled like a maniac. Who said girls couldn’t like princess stuff and dangerous vehicles. She jumped out of Makoto’s lap and desperately shifted in front of Sousuke’s leg, wanting to climb next to Haru who was not as entertaining as the other kids. Not that Haru wasn’t happy. His son just didn’t really speak up during the games. Haru was smiling yes, but not at him nor because of him. The little smile was directed to the other two brats. Damn those little shits, damn his extreme fondness for kids. His heart felt like a warm puddle of chocolate fondue.

Sousuke had a little more than one hour to prepare himself to tell his difficult son that they will be separated after this flight. That would be the second time of the day that he had to break Haru’s heart. He still regretted the first but he had to. The nanny let him down, the day before the business trip that was planned 2 months ago. Letting kids down will only make them hate you for life. Or one day. Haru’s personality shifted to the first.

If he were lucky, Makoto would keep in touch with him. He had given him his phone number and other contact details after all. Makoto promised him to send that picture of their baby-burrito brats. Promises had to be kept was the unspoken rule. Sousuke really liked the younger man and his two brats. He hadn’t felt so flustered about a person in a long time. Heck, he never felt something like this. Haru’s mother was no exception, a loveless marriage he called it. That bitch.

He had known Makoto for not even a day, but a part of his soul already wanted to get to know him better. Sousuke wanted to know everything about the brunet. All the weird quirks he had, his handwriting, his favourite kind of toothpaste. The thing he liked about Makoto the most he would definitely say his smile.

If the word crush meant someone crushing you with just their smile, then Makoto was his crush. Even if Makoto wasn’t interested in him, he still wanted to be friends with him. Even for Haru’s sake and friendship he had to keep in contact with him. Knowing Haru doesn’t accept any ‘no’s’ for answers, the brat would definitely glare at him for eternity. If that happened, Sousuke could never forgive himself.

“Yeah sure, it was a jet fighter. One point for you, princess” Sousuke mumbled as he yet succeeded his failure. He had ridden a jet fighter several times before when he was with the military, why the fuck did he think of a flying banana. The young girl on his left thigh smiled proudly at Haru and Rin. Sousuke sighed of relieving and bliss. His legs were bouncing up and down to entertain two of the three busy kids, who were in a busy discussion about flying animals.

He didn’t notice that Makoto was looking at him. Green eyes full of warmth and fondness. A grin smeared down on his face, smiling proudly as if he had found the love of his life.

* * *

 “Hey old man, what’s a jet fighter?” Haru frowned, his right eyebrow rose up. Confusion was written all over his face. He never listened to Sousuke when he was talking about anything that wasn’t related to water. He repressed the irritation of being called an old man and opened his mouth. Before Sousuke could answer Haru’s question, Rin grabbed Haru’s hand and dragged him out of his lap.

“Gou! Let’s show Haru what a jet fighter is! WHOosh!”

The overly excited kids got out of their comfortable human seats. Rin and Gou counted to five before they both started to make comic-like sounds like ‘BOOM’, ‘WHOOSH’ and last but not least ‘PEW PEW’ like a true jet fighter sounded like. Where the hell did they even learn this kind of shit? Makoto didn’t really seem like a violent type at all, but he was a firefighter Sousuke reminded himself. Adrenaline was part of his job.

Haru joined the two siblings with their little play. His eyes had the same spark as they have when he looks at water. Friendship really changes a person, doesn’t it. Haru was still a brat towards him though. That’s never going to change he was sure of that. They were going to land in just less than an hour according to the information on their seat-screens. Nope, he’s not going to break the three little snots up. Not a chance.

Hopefully, Makoto could also see the bliss between the kids or see more into the chemistry between the two. Sousuke hoped for both. The latter, even more, his selfishness took over. He was going to try his hardest to charm the fellow doting father. Even if he had to embarrass himself more he already did. As if that was possible, but he could try.

The kids ran off before he could even finish his thoughts. They were in a fucking airplane, close to landing. Landing meant more turbulence. Turbulence meant having fastened seatbelts for safety. Three 5-year olds were running around in a vehicle at least 20000 feet in the sky. The distance between the airplane and the ground decreases every few minutes. _Dangerous turbulence. Losing balance. Owie Owies._ Accidents might happen for shit’s sake.

The minute the three troublemakers sprinted off to the other side of the cabin disappearing behind the curtain, Makoto already unfastened his seatbelt as he ordered Sousuke to inform the flight attendees. The young father had an incredible reflex whenever it came to the kids. It was like Makoto had a built-in-kid-radar. He didn’t even care that he forgot to wear his left slipper before maneuvering between Sousuke’s legs and the seat in front of him.

“Hey kids! STOP! Come back here! It’s dangerous!” Makoto’s bossy attitude made him shiver. His voice changed, a few octaves lower than his usual voice. He seemed to have a starting cold, Sousuke assumed of the slight roughness when he emphasized ‘dangerous’. Sousuke continued to observe him. Through the tight jeans Makoto was wearing, he could clearly see the shape of his muscles as he ran off to chase the little devils. That firm ass was too much for Sousuke to handle. _“Too hot, hot damn”._ He wasn’t a dragon, but he absolutely felt like retiring. _“Stupid business trip. Stupid absent nanny”._

* * *

 The flight attendee said this has happened several times before. Kids usually don’t really like the landing or like it way too much. The only option left for them to do was to chase the kids themselves. It was not like the flight attendees weren’t willing to help them, but they were really busy. Especially, during take-offs and landings. Therefor Sousuke joined Makoto and his chase, each guarding the sides of the cabin. They awkwardly blocked the hallways like gigantic bodyguards outside a club. They even held the curtains open when other passengers wanted to go to the toilet. Classy, kind and polite. Gentlemen.

One tiny head poked out of the curtain Sousuke was guarding. The princess of the three royal brats, Gou, smiled triumphantly at him. His instant agent-reflexes grabbed the tiny human by the hand. He lifted her up in his arms with no difficulty. The little girl weighted not even one-tenth of his usual weights he trained with.

“Hey beautiful princess, do you know where Haru and Rin are?” Sousuke whispered softly. He tried to sound like one of those nice kindergarten teachers. Some people didn’t believe that his heart was basically made of pudding and cotton candy despite his everlasting frown.

“Nuh-uh”. She shook her head, her pigtails bounced up and down. Her sinister non-stop smile revealed her missing upper left incisor. Makoto wasn’t Satan, but he was sure that his kids were the spawns of Satan. Just like Haru.

He waved at Makoto. ‘FOUND ONE’ he dramatically mouthed to him as he pointed at the tiny girl who was climbing his body like a monkey. The non-satanic parental figure of Gou smiled almost lovingly at them, the angelic smile only lasted a second thought. Right, the concentration was the key to success. Two remaining kids were yet to be found and Gou refused to give them any answers. Instead of trying to convince Gou, he carried her to one of the three empty seats, next to the woman whom he had mistaken for Makoto’s significant other. Seatbelt fastened securely, safety the number one priority. Sousuke asked the woman next to Gou row to keep an eye on her.

One down, two to go.

* * *

 Assuming that Rin and Haru were in the cabin Gou came from, he and Makoto split up. Since he was the closest to the nearest exit Gou popped out, he was the one that had to investigate that cabin. He didn’t expect that the cabin next to theirs was the Royal Diamond class. It was filled with really rich old people. The majority was sleeping so he guessed that Rin and Haru didn’t wake them up with their enthusiastic attitude. Or the oldies were tired of their shit. Honestly, that was the greatest possibility.

There was no sign of the kids at all. Waking up elders to ask was never a good idea. You will either get slapped with a folded newspaper or get stabbed with knitting needles. Not that he was afraid of getting stabbed; he could care less about getting a wound. Pointy objects weren’t allowed on airplanes anyway. But for the sake of the missing kids, it was surely worth a shot.

“Excuse me sir, but have you seen two 5-year olds running around pretending they were jet-”

Sousuke didn’t expect to get a cup of coffee splashed on his face. Luckily, it was cooled off coffee that the irritated old man forgot to drink up. What did it mean? Did the old grump see the kids or not? Mister irritated oldie already fell asleep. No use. He sighed. Better go to the lavatory then to clean up.

Outside the occupied toilet he heard muffled sounds coming out from the inside. Sounds of two familiar troublemakers. Hiding in a toilet is just plain rude. What if others wanted to pee or something? But what if Rin and Haru were feeling unwell too? The airplane food wasn’t that bad, it was quite delicious. His own stomach wasn’t complaining yet. He put his ear against the door.

_“Haru, look at my helicopter!”_

_“Mine is faster”._

“What the fuck?” he whispered to nobody. Sousuke decided to interrupt whatever they were doing. He didn’t even want to know what was happening inside. He was sure it was troublesome.

“Yo buddies, I know you two are inside. Come out now.” Sousuke disliked using his bossy-voice towards little kids. He had no choice to make.

They didn’t react to him. Perhaps they didn’t hear them because of the turbulence. A few minutes ago the captain did announce that the turbulence would increase, the closer they were to their destination. The annotation to put on your seatbelts was turned on. That meant that they should be sitting in their seats by now, securely protected by their seatbelts. Not hiding in a bathroom, playing with helicopters.

He had to get Makoto. Makoto surely had to power to get them out. The fire-fighter was Rin’s father after all, and Haru was pretty much attached to him. It was kind of sad to see that his detached snobby brat was more open to people he had known for like 8 hours than he was with his own father. Haru loved him a lot, he knew that. The kid was just not great at showing it. He was not sure why his son did show his affection to Makoto and his twin brats.

* * *

 “You sure, that Haru and Rin are hiding in this lavatory?”

“I heard them myself, can you please convince them to get out?”

“Sure, if they are still inside”.

“What do you mean?”

The little bar on the lavatory said it was vacant. While he was getting Makoto, the kids must have escaped. Sousuke was speechless. He wanted to stab a bitch, to be specific he wanted to stab himself. Fortunately, Makoto was able to stop him by calming him down, giving the courageous sacred ‘Super Parent’ speech. The guy was literally his own superhero.

Makoto said he was going to check up on Gou again while inspecting their cabin again. He ordered Sousuke to clean himself up in the lavatory. Makoto demanded it, his face unreadable. The smell of coffee wasn’t unwelcome, but the damp tight black T-shirt wasn’t really comfortable. His nipples hardened because of the cold. He was able to see them through his shirt just like the rest of his torso, meaning Makoto must have seen them too. Funny enough, even though he wasn’t ashamed of his body, he was in fact super proud of his body. He felt bad for maybe making Makoto uncomfortable. He dried himself up with toilet paper. The coffee smell remained stuck on his skin and shirt.

The quest continued. Sousuke was too tired for this shit. Saying ‘fuck it’ would be irresponsible. Responsibility was his only motivation. 30 minutes till landing, and no sign of the two dipshits. As an agent he would have to find a person in 1 minute, five of the 60 seconds were meant for shooting. Currently, he was sporting two mental ‘handicaps’; sleep deprivation and his huge crush, so he could forgive himself for not being in his ‘zone’.

Inhaling ten deep breaths, he started to focus on the main deal. If he were a kid, where would he hide, wanting not to be found out? The lavatories, check. In a different cabin, double check. He already checked all of the cabins, except for the one Makoto was in. The cockpit, no need to check; they weren’t allowed to go in. The turbulence didn’t make it hard for Sousuke to walk around but for the kids, they would already have rolled on the floor like fallen apples. He hoped so hard that Makoto already found the kids.

One of the many flight attendees forced him to go back to his seat. Not wanting to argue with the strict woman, he obeyed.

* * *

 

Makoto wasn’t sitting in the seats behind Gou, but two others were. Makoto must have been sitting in one of the Haru’s and his original seats.

“Sup Haru’s daddy, thanks for playing with us!”

“DAD! WE-“.

“WAIT WHAT!?”

Two emotions flooded into his head, anger and relief. Angry that he had spent so much time chasing them. He was relieved that they were safe and sound, with their seatbelts fastened. He didn’t have to right to scold Rin, but Haru will get an earful later. The strict flight attendee wasn’t looking at him that friendly. He ruffled the head of the kids before walking to his own seat.

As expected, the man behind his disability to think straight, literally, sat in the seat near the window. Sousuke was welcomed with a blinding grin.

“Tada! One of the flight attendees found them near the cockpit”. Makoto explained the situation while trying to hold in his laughter. The man wasn’t even mad. “Quite the chase it was, wasn’t it? The kids cuddled like the Teletubbies when they were reunited. It was such an adorable sight”.

“I was worried sick, bro. I honestly was starting to think that we will never find them and they would end up with the wrong parents like a reversed Home Alone 2 thing”. Sousuke playfully punched Makoto in the shoulder. He felt like he could finally breathe. The presence of the brunet really did a thing to him. In less than 20 minutes he had to break his own heart and Haru’s. No way in hell he’s going to survive that. _“It’s now or never Sou. Go get them, you can do it. I believe in you”._ After gathering all his courage he finally spoke up.

“So uhm, Makoto. Would you like to keep in touch with us? Haru is surely going to miss playing with Gou and Rin after all”. He kept making excuses for himself. Sousuke remained to stay cool which felt like another huge victory to his self-esteem although he mumbled it. “I mean they are really great friends now, and we are too I think?”

“WH-What did you say? I couldn’t hear because my ears are blocked”. Makoto pointed to his ears.  His Eustachian tube couldn’t handle the air pressure. Sousuke himself had no problem with that, he had grown used to it. He knew some remedies, but they were useless because Makoto couldn’t hear him.

“It’s nothing, wait lemme help you”. Both his hands cupped Makoto’s head as he signaled Makoto to move his jaw to move mimic swallowing movements. Their faces were really close to each other. Sousuke could see all of his little spots in his green eyes, the small freckles under his eyes and the outline of Makoto’s lips. Both were blushing slightly at the sudden change of the atmosphere. The urge to kiss him was strong but he had to restrain himself. His hands reacted before his mind did, stroking the starting scruff before letting go. He missed the opportunity to see Makoto shiver under his accidental ministrations.

“Do you feel better now, do you even hear me?” Sousuke tried to avoid Makoto’s gaze. He wasn’t even sure if Makoto was looking at him or not. He hoped not.

“Yeah, thank you so much”. Was that embarrassment he was hearing? Normally he was the embarrassed one of the two. “Look wait, we’re going to land in less than 10 minutes! Dude, I’m gonna open the window! I want to see the view”. Makoto successfully avoided the topic of his ears.

The miniature versions of the villages outside the city were beautiful. Everything was so tiny compared to their normal vision. Every minute, they grew bigger. He could see the airport already. The flight path was said about 2 minutes away till they were on the ground again.

_“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re preparing to land in Sydney, Australia. The time is 15:30. The temperature outside is 30 degrees Celcius. We hope you enjoyed the flight, thank you for choosing our airlines today”._

The landing wasn’t that of a big deal. The slight pressure in his stomach wasn’t something he couldn’t handle. He didn’t hear kids screaming in the background so he assumed the kids could handle it too. Speaking of the kids, he had instructed them before to stay a little longer till other passengers were out so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the rush.

His hand luggage only consisted of his travel pack and Haru’s dolphin one. Makoto didn’t bother offering any help because he already knew. Together they went to gather the brats. The kids were heaving a post-adrenaline kick. Rin was the most enthusiastic about the landing, saying it was’ so cool’ and ‘again and again’. Haru and Gou were bouncing up and down on their seat. Clearly still full of adrenaline, they didn’t even bother unbuckling their belts. Makoto carried his own stuff out of the luggage cabin, Sousuke tried his hardest not to stare at his bulging biceps. But who knows, this may be his last chance to appreciate the very nice view. Makoto was still wearing his nerdy glasses but he still managed to pull off the air of an underwear model.

* * *

 They stuck together during the security checks, the baggage claim. Unfortunately, they had to separate outside the airport. Haru didn’t like it when he was forced to say goodbye to his new friends. Sousuke swore his son was rubbing his eyes when the taxi drove away. While they waited for their shuttle bus, he greedily made use of the free airport Wi-Fi.

When an annotation for a message of Makoto Tachibana popped up, Sousuke smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hit count never fails to amaze [me](http://saikoi.tumblr.com/). Thank you all so much reading this lame/shitty fic.


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